Moth and Butterfly

Moth and Butterfly are the most commonly used terms in gardening. Moths and butterflies are small insects that are attracted to plants because of their flowers. They feed on the plant by eating its leaves, stems, and fruits. Moth and Butterfly eat mostly tender leaves or fruit as they prefer plants rich in sugar content. However, they do not drink sap like aphids or plant-hoppers do although they are sometimes seen sucking on them. Moth larvae feed on pollen grains while butterflies suck up nectar from flowers because these insects have a long tongue called proboscis which is 1/3 meter long sometimes!

What is a Moth?

There are about 12,000 varieties of moths and members of the Lepidoptera family. Moths have a paralysing agent called Dance in their saliva. Moth caterpillar’s body is covered in hair-like bristles which makes them soft and fluffy, hence it is called a woolly bear or teddy bear caterpillar. Moth caterpillars feed on plants by climbing on them and eating away at their leaves, stems and fruits. If you notice a moth flying near your flowers, then you can be sure that there is already a moth caterpillar present on those leaves with the intention to eat them all up.

Features of Moth

Body is covered in soft hair-like bristles. Moth caterpillar’s bodies are covered in woolly bristles and have a snout-like face. This face rests on the caterpillar’s back since the head is not needed after eating the plant. A caterpillar with a big black spot on its back is one that has just molted, but it hasn’t grown wings yet. When it has grown wings, this spot will be gone. It will have a brown or yellow colored body and shiny spots on its wing covers called pterostigma

What are Butterflies?

Butterflies often fly near flowers without eating them up, but occasionally they are seen sucking on plants like an ordinary moth. Butterfly is the most widely used term to describe the winged insects. Butterfly has wings on its front body and hind legs which are made of a transparent chitin (chitinous material). The colorful wings look like stained glass and have multiple veins in them.

Features of Butterfly

Wing cases (wing covers) have a shiny surface, hence giving the butterfly its name as Glass wing. It makes it easier for the butterfly to see its reflection by flying near a mirror to check if it is reflecting or not. Wings are attached on tight hinges, which means that when butterflies spread their wings, they can’t fold up.

Moth and Butterfly: Comparison

1. Moths and butterflies belong to the same family, Lepidoptera.
2. Both moths and butterflies can fly around flowers and feed on their leaves, stems and the fruits of plants.
3. Moth caterpillars have a snout-like face while the butterfly does not.
4. The wings of both Moth and Butterfly are not connected to the body unlike bats’ wings. The wing cover called exoskeleton is attached to tighten hinges on each side of their body legs which makes it harder for them to fold up their wings.
5. Butterflies have colorful stained-glass like wings while moths have plain colored wings without any patterns in them.
6. Butterflies have a pair of long antennae which are used for finding nectar from flowers. Moth caterpillars do not have a pair of antennae and have only one pair of mouth bristles.
7. Moth caterpillars do not have a proboscis whereas butterflies do. Both caterpillars can suck sap from plants but do not have the proboscis like butterflies have.
8. In the case of a moth, the hairs on its body are erect at rest, but butterfly hairs usually lie flat at rest. Yeast (fruiting body cells present in dead plants) which are important to both moths and butterflies are closely related to plants and animals so they are always attracted to the same areas around plants.
9. Butterflies lay eggs on plants in clusters and hatch larvae from them. Moth larvae hatch from eggs and eat the same food that they were fed as a caterpillar.
10. Moths can be seen flying towards sources of light. It is because they find nectar in flowers at night time since butterflies do not feed in the night.
11. Moths feed on leaves, stems, and fruits while butterflies feed on sap of plants.
12. Both moth and butterfly can be found near flowers but moth larva mostly lives underground while butterfly larvae live above ground feeding on leaves or fruits of a plant before pupating to become moths that we see flying around flowers.

Conclusion

If you observe a moth or a butterfly flying near your plants, you can be sure that there is a moth caterpillar present on those same leaves. The moth caterpillar is also known as the woolly bear caterpillar because of its hairy body. However, Butterfly has wings on its front body and hind legs which are made of chitin (chitinous material). Moths and butterflies both feed on plants by eating their leaves, stems or the fruits of a plant. Moth caterpillars have a snout-like face while butterflies do not have it.